We sat down with Mykah Czarina (Artist) and talked about growth.
A conversation about growth through the mind of an artist.
Question
What 5 tips would you give to your younger self?
Mykah Czarina
First, one would be trust the process. I feel like especially in North America, we're always trying to rush, rush, rush, and get. This perceived finish line or ahead of the line in some way, but in reality, you know, that's always moving, evolving, and changing. And so the best way is to just trust the process and just keep going.
The second thing is to make sure to go to therapy, heal some of those wounds and take care of yourself. Again, I think our society really doesn't focus on that enough, but you can only be productive and specifically creative. I think when you're in a space cultivated for that.
The third thing would be, don't take yourself too seriously. Have fun with it. I think that contributes to being more creative. Sometimes when you're trying to be too cool, you freeze up. Keeping that childlike wonder or interest and just letting yourself be like a mess helps some cool stuff come out of that.
The fourth would be to try and connect or build a community. I think that's really important. It gives you a lot of different perspectives and you know, sometimes when you need that extra little push your friends have your back. Giving you some positivity when you can't do it for yourself. So I think that's really important and it's really cool to just be yourself, grow with others. And it's an easy way to get inspiration.
The fifth one, stick to the daily practice. I know sometimes it's really annoying. You give yourself such a hard time when you're like, oh man, I'm not, doing the thing that I said I was gonna do. That's okay. Being forgiving of yourself first so that you can actually get over it easier and do it again, day to day is very important having that consistency.
Question
What are 3 things you do to help develop who you are?
One of the things I learned is really to appreciate the downtime and let my palate in my head clear up. We're just so filled with so much information, so much social media, and we're always trying to learn and we're obsessed with learning and growing. When you step out again, you kind of see things in a new way. And some things that you've been like forcing to clear up, just kind of clear up on its own. Your brain is doing its thing and making its own connections.
Second I try to look at stuff outside of what I'm currently working at. I'm generally creative, but right now for money, I do illustrations. So I try to take inspiration from other things and mish-mash stuff together so that you can find your own stamp and your own unique way of representing what it is you want to represent.
The third, a lot of self-inquiry as well. So journaling, stretching and meditating and asking where am I at now? What do I need to accept about myself? What do I need to let go of?
Question
What are 3 things you do that help improve yourself?
Health is really, really important because you can't do anything else when your body isn't functioning well.
Keeping an open mind and trying to find the balance between hearing out the people that are trying to help you, and mentoring you. But also being able to know when you have to keep your foot on the ground and say no, this is what it needs to be.
Welcome new challenges. That one's really hard because it's easy to become comfy. A job comes to you where you question yourself. But have faith that you are going to figure it out and handle it. Not shying away from the challenges and taking those opportunities as a thing to learn and another box to check off, giving yourself more confidence.
In summary, connecting with yourself by learning, talking to others and taking time off can help clear the palette of thoughts we have. By letting our minds take its natural course and creating space for the new challenges we face as artist. You can view Mykah's work here.